What is tomato leaf used for?

When people mention tomatoes, they usually think of the popular, red, delicious and healthy fruit that appears in a variety of recipes such as salads, empanadas, pizzas, macarons and juices.

But what about tomato leaves? Can this part be used or is it harmful to your health? What is it used for in the kitchen?

Can we use tomato leaves?

According to an article by Kitchen Zone writer Harold McGee in The New York Times, many people believe that tomato leaves are poisonous. However, he says there is little evidence to justify this common belief.

According to The New York Times article, high levels of fats can kill animals and cause nausea, hallucinations, and even death in humans. However, toxicity is an imprecise factor in any case because it depends on variables such as the amount consumed of the food or substance in question.

According to him, Dr. Mendel Friedman of the US Department of Agriculture, who has already studied tomato and potato alkaloids for two decades, wrote in an email that the commercially sold tomato alkaloid is tomatine and the fats are potato alkaloids. Already explained here.

The explanation offered by the author is that tomatoes seem to bind to fat in the digestive system, and then, the compound is excreted.

Additionally, McGee argued, George E. Burroughs and Ronald J. According to Tyrrell et al.’s publication Poisonous Plants of North America, a person needs to consume a minimum amount of tomato to reach toxic levels of tomatoes through tomato leaves. About 450 grams of ingredients. According to Harrold, the authors concluded that in most cases, the risk was low.

How to use tomato leaves

As The Kitchen reports, chef Paul Bertolli uses the ingredient in his tomato sauce recipe as a way to enhance the flavor.

Harold McGee added that while exploring the East Indies, the Dutch botanist GE Rumpf noticed that the people of Amboina, now part of Indonesia, ate tomato leaves with fermented clams.

He also reported that another botanist, JK Haskarl, later discovered that the leaves were eaten along with rice. However, McGee noted that on an episode of a Japanese cooking show, a chef served raw fish with a sauce containing dried tomato leaves.

The writer himself enjoyed tomato leaves in the kitchen and told him that the finely ground ingredient with a touch of fish sauce would be good as a side dish to rice and pot-cooked halibut.

He also said that frying the tomato leaves for a few seconds on both sides gave a delicious result. The author also said that blanched and shrunken ingredients work well to add color and flavor to pesto sauce. He still insists that he has not experienced any side effects from consuming tomato leaves.

What is this for? Benefits of Tomato Leaf

A study conducted at the Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo in Ecuador showed that tomato leaf extract has a healing effect.

There are indications that this ingredient may contribute to lowering cholesterol, lowering triglyceride levels and strengthening the immune system.

A master’s thesis by Felipe Gabriel Andrino also indicates that tomato leaves and stems can be used in agriculture as organic pesticides for some types of fungi.

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